A/N: I do feel bad for Emma in this chapter, but I thought it was important to show how far Regina would go for Emma.

I typically write in third person, but I'm enjoying writing it in first.

This fic was already extremely personal, so this made it all the better.

I was surprised that I could get into a dress, but it's way easier than my jeans. I stayed fit even if my arm had other plans.

I was pulling down my dress, the only one I had, that seemed a bit too short. It was blood red and I had worn it when I was taking down this guy named Ryan. I didn't even own a "little black dress".

I glared at my cast. It didn't go well with my dress at all. I hoped Regina didn't mind.

Henry poked his head in, "Hey Ma, looking fancy!"

"Close the door, Kid!"

He came into the room and closed the door.

"I don't want your mom to see me yet."

"Why not? It's not like you're getting married."

"Hey Kid, don't get ahead of yourself!"

He sat down on the bed and sat criss-cross-applesauce.

"You will ask her, right?"

"Are you hinting at something?"

"Ma, I'm serious. I know you just got back, but like, Mom's been totally in love with you."

"How do you know? It's been five years!"

"Trust me, I could tell. Mom was getting softer. Whenever I mentioned your name in the beginning, she looked like she was about to cry. When you got home, she was like Christmas had come early! She even started singing."

"What was she singing?"

"No clue, it was an oldies tune."

"Don't call your mom old!"

"Sorry, Ma."

"I maybe the old fart, but your mom is gorgeous and hasn't aged a day."

"See, you're in love with her too."

"You can't go around assuming things, Kid."

"I'm right though, Ma."

"Even if you are, don't assume."

"Okay Ma, I promise that I won't."

xxx

Regina was getting ready in her room. She would normally wear a dress, but she wanted to wear something more adventurous. She took out a suit which was a white dress shirt, thin black tie, and black slacks. It was new, but she had a feeling that Emma would like it.

"Henry!" Regina called and he came out of Emma's room.

"Yeah, Mom?

"Can you please tell Emma that I'll meet her at Granny's?"

"Yep!"

xxx

"Ma, she said…"

"I heard her, Kid."

"You better not keep Mom waiting, you know how she is."

"Oh I know!"

"Go go go!" Henry cheered as I raced out the door.

xxx

I was walking inside Granny's and my mouth almost fell to the ground as I saw Regina. She looked so fine in that suit of hers.

"Yo Emma, shut your mouth, you're in the presence of a lady!" Ruby said with a wink.

"Hey, I'm a lady too!"

"Barely."

"Haha, shut up, Ruby."

"I'm serving you tonight for your date ,sobe nice or I'll spit in your food."

"Hell will freeze over before you ever spit in a customer's food!" Granny scolded.

"Sorry Granny."

"Show these two to their table or you got kitchen duty tonight."

"Okay, okay. Follow me, ladies."

xxx

Emma pulled Regina's chair out and I sat down while awkwardly scrambling to my seat out of nervousness. I almost slipped on my ass while pulling my chair out.

"I know that you're big on manners, but I'm kinda limited here. I'll do my best though."

Regina chuckled, "I'm sure you will."

The food had arrived and it was simple without any sweets.

"Aww Ruby, no sweets?"

"Nope, Regina said I can't serve you anymore 'junk'."

I let out a gasp, "Regina, are you trying to starve me?"

Regina rolled her eyes, "You're worse than Henry. You need to eat more nutritious things."

She took a bite out of her salad when I gave my plate of kale a death stare.

"If this is your plan of a hot date, then I might need to pass."

"Emma, just try it."

I poked it with my fork, "It's green, leafy, and healthy. I'd rather starve."

"Try it for me?"

Ruby snickered.

"Go away Rubes or I'll…"

"What you gonna do, Swan?" Ruby said, challenging me.

"She will behave and do nothing, but enjoy our date." Regina said, answering for me.

I folded my arms over my chest, "Uh huh, so you think."

Ruby left and before she did, she made sure that I could only see her pretend to have a whip and mouthed, "You're whipped."

xxx

"Just one bite, Emma. You know that Granny is a wonderful cook. Are you going to insult her by not even trying it?"

"No. Fine, I'll try it, but if I need CPR, it's your fault."

Regina rolled her eyes as she watched me use my fork to stab the Kale.

"May I not drop dead from eating this."

"Just eat it, Miss Swan."

I took a bite and as I was chewing it, I didn't want to admit that it was actually good.

"What do you think?"

"Goof." I said with a full mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

I swallowed and said, "Good."

"See? It wasn't so bad."

I ate everything until my plate was cleared and she finished her salad.

Ruby came out with more food that was more my taste. It was a burger that didn't hold the bacon along with fries. Ruby didn't put it in front of me though.

"What the hell, Rubes! I thought that was mine."

"Nope, Regina wanted to try something new."

"Regina, you're joking right?"

"No, I wanted to try something new and understand why you like such a greasy thing as this."

"Hey, don't insult my favorite food. It has feelings."

"So...where's my food?"

"You're in for a big treat!"

"It's not more kale is it?"

"No, of course not."

"If you gave me anymore kale or vegetables, then I'll have to send it back."

Ruby went to the kitchen and came back out with a plate of lasagna.

"Er Rubes, why are you serving me lasagna? No offense to Granny, but I only like Regina's lasagna."

Ruby winked, "Whose lasagna do you think this is?"

My face lit up as I immediately realized that Regina had cooked lasagna for me.

"Well, it's time for me to head out. I have a date with Belle, so enjoy the rest of your night."

"Thanks Ruby, see you!"

"Have fun you too!"

Ruby rushed out the door and left both of us sitting there.

"I can't believe you made me this. Nobody has ever done something so special for me." I took a deep breath so that I didn't start crying like a big baby.

"I know that you missed my lasagna and Henry suggested it."

"Did he suggest the kale too?"

"Yes, actually."

"I'll get my revenge on him."

"You will do no such thing to our son!"

"Aww Regina, don't ruin the fun."

She leaned in and purred, "I will be the one having fun with you."

I swallowed nervous, "Okay."

xxx

We finished our dinner and then Regina magiced the our plates away. I assumed that she had them cleaned and put away at the same time to save Ruby the grief of cleaning up.

"No dessert?"

Regina stood up to leave, "You'll have dessert, but not the type you're thinking of."

"Hot damn."

"Language, Miss Swan."

"Hot..stuff."

"Much better."

xxx

We were taking a night stroll and sat down on the bench that overlooked the lake. She reached over to hold onto my good hand.

"Emma, I'm so happy that you're back. I… I never thought you would ever come back. After those harsh things I said before…"

"Regina, that's in the past, so let's leave it there, yeah?"

"Of course."

I faced her and took a deep breath before leaning in to give her a kiss.

Regina leaned into me and the moment that we kissed, there was like a shock wave of white magic coming from us.

"Talk about a kiss."

The former Evil Queen blushed.

"What was that magic? Did you do that?"

"No, Emma."

"Then who did?"

"You."

"What do you mean? I don't have magic."

"Apparently, you do. Your magic is white, no surprise there."

"Your dark purple magic is beautiful, just like you."

She got even redder, "Thank you, Emma."

xxx

We were in front of the door step to our home and I kissed Regina one more time.

The door opened and Henry said, "Gross."

"Shut up, Kid. When you kiss someone, it won't be gross."

Henry rolled his eyes, "So I'm going to Grandpa's okay?"

"It's pretty late Henry, are you sure?" Regina said.

"Yeah. I got the entire weekend and I did all my homework too. Grandpa said it was okay."

"Well, alright."

When Henry left, I looked back at him and saw him give me the thumbs up.

xxx

I was waiting at the bottom of the stairs as Regina was ascending them.

"Are you coming, Emma?"

"What?"

Regina rolled her eyes, "Are you coming upstairs?"

"Why? I'm not tired."

"Who said anything about sleeping?"

I ran up those stairs faster than if my dress was on fire.

xxx

It was magical. Well, being with Regina was magical, but kissing her was like I had died and went to heaven.

We had been making out for what seemed like ages and when she was trying to catch her breath, "You really know how to keep someone satisfied."

"Well, I'm pretty charming."

She covered my mouth for a second, "Don't bring him into this, please."

"Sorry." I said muffled.

Regina removed her hand from my mouth.

"I'm usually not the type to do this…"

"No judging here, Regina. This is a judgement free zone."

She rested her head on my chest, "I know."

"Can you help me out of this dress? It's like suffocating the hell out of me."

Regina had me stand up and carefully took it off.

"If I knew better, I would have said you had this planned all along."

"I went all out, I even have a matching bra and underwear!"

"I didn't know you owned anything laced."

I shrugged, "I don't, but I got it especially for you. You deserve the best."

Regina gently pushed me on the bed and straddled me.

"It's not fair that I'm almost naked and you're fully clothed."

"You going to help me then, Miss Swan?"

I fumbled with the buttons on Regina's dress shirt. It felt like this was my first time and it wasn't. Even with my arm in a cast, my fingers were being a pain in the ass. I made a face when I noticed that I was having more trouble than before and my fingers were becoming numb.

"Regina, something's wrong."

"Emma, I know you're having trouble but…"

"No, it's something different."

Regina got off of me and frowned, "What's wrong?"

"My fingers, Regina. They're going numb."

Regina tried to stay as calm as possible, "Let me help you get dressed and we'll go see Dr. Whale."

"I'm sorry for ruining our evening." I mumbled.

She put her fingers under my chin and had me look up at her, "I had a lovely time."

xxx

Regina had called Dr. Whale and was speeding down the street.

"I should totally arrest you for speeding."

Regina ignored me as she quickly found a parking space. I heard the tires skid and I almost slammed face first into the dash.

She helped me into the hospital. I was thankful that she dressed me in a t-shirt, hoodie, and sweatpants.

Dr. Whale was looking at me and frowned, "I knew you were having issues, but not this badly. Please sit down on the bed."

I sat down and Regina was sitting in another chair next to the bed while holding my good hand.

Dr. Whale was examining my fingers.

"How often have you been numb like this?"

"It's happened on and off since I got hurt."

"Emma, why didn't you tell me?" Regina said.

"I thought it was a part of the normal healing process."

"Well, it's not, Emma." Dr. Whale said.

Dr. Whale was inspected my hand and I saw him look even more concerned.

"I need to take your cast off just to make sure."

"To make sure of what? Doc, I'm sure that I'm not as bad as a shape as you think I am. You probably put this damn thing on too tightly." I was started to feel really nervous.

He took out the appropriate tools and carefully got the cast off.

My arm was pretty hairy and smelled gross.

"It smells like rotting flesh!" I said while trying not to get sick.

Dr. Whale cleaned my arm up as best as he could and looked at my arm.

"Emma, I have really bad news for you."

"Oh great." I mumbled.

Regina sat up straighter, "What's wrong with her?"

Dr. Whale sighed, "I believe that the numbness her finger, let alone all of them can suggest a combined tendon and nerve injury."

"How did you not catch this earlier?!" Regina said, almost fuming.

"I work on dead people, not live ones." Dr. Whale said.

"What does that mean?"

"The option would've been emergency surgery, but I believe that your case has become more severe."

"If you found out about this earlier, then I wouldn't be in this position?"

"Correct."

"So..what's going to happen to me? You won't have to amputate anything, right?"

"No, but this is the beginning of you losing feeling in your fingers and eventually your hand. I wouldn't be surprised if it spread to your arm as well. This is irreversible because of the nerve damage."

"If we were back in the Enchanted Forest, I would tear your heart out and make you eat it." Regina growled at him.

Dr. Whale held up his hands, "Look, I should've caught it early, but someone just gave me false memories. I technically don't have a medical degree. Reading medical books can only help so far, Regina."

I felt tears spill down my face and I couldn't stop stop them. I tried to wipe my face with both of my hands, but I immediately dropped my right hand.

"Emma, we will get through this together."

"I'm going to be useless now, Regina. What the hell can I do with one functioning arm?"

"At least it's not amputated."

"It might as well fucking be."

"Emma…"

I stood up and sighed, "Thanks for doing your best, Dr. Whale."

"I'm so sorry, Emma."

"At least I know what's wrong with me, right?"

Regina tried to reach for me, but I moved away from her.

"I'll meet you at home, okay? I need to be on my own."

xxx

I had been lying in my bed since I got home and didn't move, even when Regina came to check on me.

It was the early morning and I heard Regina walking downstairs. She didn't bother me because she knew that I wanted to be on my own.

I was curled up in a ball and was so damn angry at Dr. Whale. I was also angry at myself for not doing anything sooner once my fingers and hand were getting numb. I usually listen to my body, but I thought that was just a part of the healing process. Obviously, I was wrong.

I don't know how many days I had been in bed, but I knew that Henry was home. I heard his footsteps on the stairs and saw that the doorknob to my door was about to open, but then Regina talked to Henry.

"Henry, Emma's not feeling well."

"Is she really sick?"

"She got bad news a few days ago."

"What bad news?"

"She's lost the use of her right arm, permanently."

"What!"

"Dr. Whale didn't catch it in time."

"But Ma said she was recovering…"

"She thought she was, but apparently, that wasn't true."

"What's going to happen to Ma now?"

"I don't know, Sweetie. She hasn't left her room in a few days, but I made sure to bring her food to her room. She hasn't touched it though, but at least she's been drinking water."

"Grandma taught us that if you don't drink water for three days, you'll die."

"She just needs to be on her for awhile, Henry, so please respect that."

"You will tell me when she comes out, right?"

"Of course, Henry."

xxx

I was having a nightmare and it was the type where I couldn't get out of it, no matter how hard I tried.

I was holding onto Regina's hands tightly as she was hanging over the mine shaft that was a very dangerous place to be.

"Regina, I won't let you go!"

"Emma, you can't keep holding onto me. You have to let me go."

"No, I won't. Henry needs you. Don't give up."

I felt Regina slipping through my fingers and I clutched tightly onto her hands, but felt my right hand letting her go.

"Regina!"

My left hand wasn't enough to hold onto her and I saw her falling down.

I woke up with a jolt and was holding a hand to my chest. I felt sweat pouring down my back.

Regina rushed into my room, "Emma, I heard you scream my name."

Henry was right behind her, "Ma!"

"Hey you two. It's nothing, Regina, I just had a nightmare."

Regina sat down on the edge of my bed and Henry sat next to her.

"Ma, you scared me! I thought something was after you."

"Nope, I'm okay, Kid."

"Henry, you better get to bed. You have school tomorrow."

"But I want to stay with Ma."

"Listen to your mom, okay? I'll be here after school."

"Promise?"

"You know I never break my promises."